Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

VALLEY — Angela Swain, an outreach social worker with the Alabama Department of Public Health, was the guest speaker for the Kiwanis Club of Valley at Wednesday’s noon-hour meeting. She talked to members of the club about the highly successful ALL Kids program that has proven to be a valuable resource in helping Alabama families of school-age children.

ALL Kids, she explained, is administered by the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) and provides low-cost healthcare coverage to eligible children under the age of 19 who are residents of the state. 

“With ALL Kids, parents can have peace of mind knowing their children are covered with quality health insurance,” Swain said.

ALL Kids is not a new program. It’s been around for 25 years now. To stay healthy, children need regular medical, vision and dental checkups. They should also have proper care should they get sick or injured.

Children with adequate healthcare coverage have a better chance of being and staying healthy and are less likely to miss school because they are sick.

To be covered by ALL Kids, there’s an application process involved. Swain displayed application forms that must be filled out. Basic questions must be answered, and there are income levels that apply. A family of four, for example, could have an annual household income of as much as $94,000 to qualify for this free or low-cost program.

Single parents are eligible to fill out a short form.

Families that include immigrants can apply. They can apply for a child even if they are not eligible. Making an application won’t affect their immigrant status or their chances of becoming a permanent citizen.

Social Security numbers (or document numbers for any legal immigrants who need insurance) are needed in an application. Employer and income information for everyone in the family will also be needed. This can be in the form of W-2 forms or wage and tax statements.

Policy numbers will also be needed for any current health insurance. Income and other information are needed to let you know what coverage you can apply for and if you can get any help paying for it. 

Swain said that ALL Kids is a comprehensive Blue Cross/Blue Shield policy for kids up to 19 years of age.

Swain has been with the Alabama Department of Public Health for 24 years now. She works out of the Talladega office and works in multiple counties in the east-central Alabama region including Chambers.

The Alabama Department of Public Health will be offering a new program to help young families starting October 1st. Information about the new program will be available at insurealabama.adph.state.al.us/ at that time. It will be part of Medicaid expansion and will be especially helpful to English Language Learning (ELL) families. 

“We want to reach out to them for them to know about it,” Swain said.

The Alabama Department of Public Health is the state’s primary health agency. Despite being chronically underfunded for decades, the ADPH provides many needed services for Alabama residents. It was established in 1875 and is headquartered in Montgomery.

TALKING KIDS’ HEALTH — Angela Swain (at left) talked to members of the Kiwanis Club of Valley on Wednesday about the state’s ALL Kids program, which helps families with school-age children with health insurance costs. Swain works out of the Alabama Department of Public Health’s Talladega office. She’s a licensed social worker and covers multiple east-central Alabama counties including Chambers. At right is the club president, Fran Groover.